Elevator for tanning-vats



No. 6||,352. Patented'sept. 27, |898.

J. H. BURNS. Y 4ELEM-mn Foa TANNING vATs.

(Application fld 06E. 16., 1897:) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet gli Zas @Airway s,

vPatenced SepI 27, |898.

. J. H. BURNS.

ELEVATOH FR TANNING VATS.

(Application led Oct. 16, 1897.) V

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

` (No Model.)

iin`

JOSEPH H. BURNS, OF MUNISING, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES LIGHTBODY, OF ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN,

ELEVATOR FOR lTAN NlNG-VATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,352, dated September 27, 1898.

` ippiimon med october 16,1897. seria No. 655,406. (No man.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be itknown that I, JOSEPH I-I. BURNS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Munisin g, in the county of Alger and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Elevator for Tanning-Vats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for raising and lowering hides in tanning-vats; and the obj ect that I have in view is to provide an improved mechanism which may be operated by power for the 'purpose of slowly elevating a hide-carryin g cage, so as to allow the tanning liquor to drain from the hides during their withdrawal from the vat.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for allowing the hide-carrying cage to descend slowly into the vat by the force of gravity, the descent of the cage and its load being controlled by the provision of automatically-operating contrivances which are independent of the power mechanism for elevating the cage and its load.

A further object that I have in view is to improve the mechanism in minor details, with a view to simplifying its construction, promotin g its efficiency, and enabling it to be operated by one or two attendants, thus saving the labor of a number. of workmen, for the purpose of depositing and withdrawing the hides.

To the accomplishment of these ends my invention consists in the novel combination of elements and in the construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of so much of a tanning-vat as is necessary to an understanding of the invention and showing my irnprovements applied to the vat in operative relation thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation on the plane indicated by the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. l looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.r Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view through a part of the cage-checking mechanism by which the descent of the cage under the action of gravity may becontrolled. Fig. ,4. is a detail View of rthe mechanism for holding the main shaft against rotation for the purpose of sustaining the cage at the desired elevation.

Like numerals of` reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings. l

l designates a vat. 2 is the floor-line, and 3 the line of the overhead ceiling. The vat l is of any suitable or preferred construction, and in it is erected the guide-rails 4, situated, preferably, at the ends of the vat.

5 is the hide-carrying cage or receptacle, which is fitted within the vat to engage with the guides or guide-rails therein. This cage or receptacle may be of any suit-able descrip-` tion; but I prefer to employ an open-work structure with a slatted bottom for the purpose of containing within itself the hides and of allowing free accessof the liquor to, and drainage of the liquor from, the hides in said cage or receptacle.

In the bottom of the vat is a step-bearing `6 to accommodate the foot of a vertical screw or screw shaft 7. This vertical screw is mounted in said bearing 6 to be held thereby in an upright xed position for a traveling nut 8 to engage therewith. This nut 8` is threaded interiorly to have its threads engage with those on the vertical screw, and said traveling nut is mounted on or connected with the cage or receptacle 5 to travel therewithin its vertical movements and at the same time be capable of a rotary movement independently of the traveling movement of the cage or receptacle.

The iixed screw spindle or shaft 7 is of any suitable constructionthat is to say, it may be provided. with a single coarse thread or a coarse multiple thread especially designed to allow the nut to travel thereon and permit the cage to descend automatically and slowly under the weight of the cage andits load.

For the proper mounting orsupport of the rotary traveling nut in the cage or receptacle I provide the bearing-rails 9 l0,which are arclutch 19.

tral positions with relation to the cage or receptacle, and said rails are suitably attached or fastened to the cage to be movable there-- with. The bearing-rails are thus adapted to travel with the ca ge in its vertical play within the vat, and to further hold the rails in rigid relation to the traveling nut I provide the ends of the rails with suitable notches or recesses adapted to fit to the vertical guides or guide-rails within the vat, as `indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The described construction of the cage with the rotary traveling nut and the .fixed screwshaft provides a mechanism by which the descent of the cage with its load may be controlled when the cage is free from the hoisting mechanism to be presently described. I provide ball-bearings for the nut to insure its free traveling movement between the bearing-rails 9 10 of the cage or receptacle; and

in this embodiment of the invention the ends of the traveling nut are provided with recesses which coincide with similar recesses in the plates 11 12, which are preferably countersunk in and rigidly fastened to the bearing-rails 9 10 in vertical alinement with each other and with the nut. The grooves in the opposing faces of the bearing-plates and the nut form ball-races 13,which receive the bearing-balls 14 15, whereby the nut is sustained to have free movement between the bearing-rails and the friction and wear between the parts are reduced to a minimum.

The hoisting mechanism for raising the slidable'cage or receptacle is arranged in a position over the vat and is constructed in a manner to be driven by power, to be readily controlled by an attendant, and to be connected detachably to the cage or receptacle. A horizontal overhead power-shaft 16 is journaled in suitable bearings, (not showm) and on this shaft is mounted one member of a driving mechanism for imparting rotary motion to the shaft. I have shown this driving-mechanism member in the form of a sprocket-wheel 17, adapted to be driven by a suitable sprocketchain, (not shown 5) but it is evident that the mechanism employed for driving the shaft may be varied at the pleasure of a skilled mechanic. On the shaft 16, adjacent to the sprocket-wheel, is mounted a clutch member 19, which isfast with the shaft 16, and the sprocket-wheel 17 is provided with a slidable clutch member 1S, adapted to engage with the The sprocket-wheel and its parts are mounted loosely on the shaft 16 to slide a limited distance thereon for the purpose of adjusting the member lSof the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch member 19. Said sprocket-wheel is also provided with an extended hub or sleeve 20, in an annular groove of which works a collar 21, to which is connected one end of a shipper rod or link 22. This shi pper-rod is pivoted to the end of a lever 23, which is fulcrumed at an intermediate point of its length, as at 24, on a loose sleeve 25, fitted on the shaft 16, said sleeve being confined against slidable movement on the shaf t by and between the collars 2G, which are fast with the shaft and in positions for the ends of the sleeve 25 to abut against the same.

27 designates the hoisting sheave or wheel, which is tted loosely on the shaft 16 immediately over the vat and the cage therein, and this hoisting-sheave is provided on one side with a projecting clutch member 28 and on its opposite side with a grooved extension 29 of the hub thereof. In this grooved hub extension is loosely fitted a collar 30, to which is connected a link or rod 31, having its remote end pivoted to one end of a shipping-lever 32, which is f ulcru med at to a sleeve which fits loose on the shaft 16 and is confined between thefast collars. Ou the shaft 16, adjacent to the clutch member28 of the hoisting-sheave, is mount-ed a fast clutch member 34, with which the clutch member 28 is adapted to eugage for the purpose of making the sheave fast with the shaft 16 to rotate therewith; but when the lever 32 is operated the sheave may be thrown out of engagement with the clutch, thus making the sheave free and idle on the shaft.

The lever 23 provides means for making the driving-gear rigid with the shaft 16 for the purpose of rotating the same, while the lever 32 provides the means by which the hoisting-sheave may be thrown into and out of gear with the shaft 16. These levers are entirely independent one from the other, and thus the hoisting-sheave may remain loose on the shaft 16 while the latter continues to rotate; but when the lever 23 is operated to free the sprocket-wheel 17 from the shaft the entire mechanism may remain at rest.

On the upper central part of the cage or receptacle is attached an eyebolt 35, to which may be detachably connected a hook 36 on a block 37, which carries a sheave. The hoisting-cable 3S has one end fastened, as at 39, to the hoisting-sheave 27, thence passes over and around the sheave, thence is carried to and through the sheave-block 37, and thence carried up and fastened to a hook or eyebolt 40, which is fastened to the ceiling. It will thus be seen that I have provided a continuous hoisting-cable which is fast at one end and has-its other end attached to a rotary hoisting-sheave on which the cable may be coiled when itis desired to raise the cage with its load from the vat.

This being the construction of my mechanism for raising and lowering the hide-carrying cage or receptacle, the operationmay be described briefly as follows: The block is connected to the eye or ring on the cage, the lever 23 is operated to throw the sprocketwheel 17 into engagement with the clutch 19 to drive the shaft 16, and the lever 32 is operated to adjust the sheave 27 into engagement with the other clutch to make the sheave fast with the shaft 16. The sheave thus being rotated the hoisting-cable is coiled on the sheave and the cage or receptacle is raised slowly from the vat. of raising the cage the nut bears against the upper series of bearing-balls, and the upward strain on the cage due to pull of the hoistingcable thereon causes the nut to rotate around the screw and to travel thereon. This slow elevation of the cage is important because it allows the tan liquor to drain off during the elevation of the cage. The shaft 16 is provided with a suitabledetent mechanism to restrain it from rotation in the reverse direction under the weight of the cage and its load, and thus the cage may be sustained at the desired elevation during the operation of placing the load of hides in the cage or of removing theload of hides therefrom.

To lower the cage and its load into the vat, the sheave-block is detached from the cage and the latter is allowed to descend by gravity into the vat; but this descent of the cage is checked and controlled by the traveling nut,

which is borne down by the weight of the load and cage and which rotates around the fixed screw, thus allowing the cage to descend slowly, so that the tan liquor as it enters the cage will not displace the hides, but allows the tan liquor to pass freely and thoroughly into the hides.

1 may either detach the tackle from the cage or unship the hoisting-sheave from the clutch, when the cage is allowed to descend into the vat, as will be readily understood.

My mechanism for restraining the shaft 16 against reverse rotation andv forA sustaining the cage in its raised position is shown by the detail Fig. t of the drawings. This Vmechanism consists of a ratchet fil, which it fastened to the shaft 16, and a block 4,2, fastened to a suitable transverse beam, as shown by Fig. 1. pawl 42 `by a suitable pin 44, supported in said block or casing in a manner to sustain the pawl in operative relation to the ratchet attached to the shaft 16, whereby the pawl is adapted to slip idly over the ratchet as the shaft and pawl16 are turned in one direction; but such pawl checks the rotation of the ratchet and shaft in the reverse direction.

The described construction of check meehanism for the shaft is ordinary in the art and no claim therefor is herein made.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The combination with a vat, a traveling to rotate .freely on the spindle and having During the operation In the block or casing is pivoted a ball-bearing connections with the cage, to allow the cage to travel slowly within the vat, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vat, a verticallymovable cage and a hoisting mechanism adapted to raise said cage within the vat, of a check mechanism to control the continuous descent of the cage slowly, consisting of a central non-rotatable screw ixed within the vat, and a traveling nut connected with the cage and fitted to said screw; said check mechanism being connected with the cage under all conditions of service and controlling the same to insure a slow, continuous, traveling movement thereto within the limits of the vat, substantiallyas described.

3. The `combination with a tanning-vat, a vertically-movable cage therein and a hoisting mechanism adapted for connection to said cage to raise the same within the vat, of bearing-rails fixed to the cage to travel therewith, a nou-rotatable screw-spindle fixed centrally within the vat and passing through said bearing-rails,and a traveling nut rotatably confined within the bearing-rails and tted on the screw to rotate freely thereon and sustain the cage against rapid descent within the vat when said cage is free from the pull of the hoisting mechanism, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4f. The combination with a tanning-vat, a vertically-movable cage therein,'and a hoisting mechanism for said cage, of bearing-rails rigidly attached to the cage, the bearingplates mounted on the bearing-rails to oppose each other, a traveling nut fitted between said plates, bearing-balls interposed between the plates and the ends of said nut, and a single non-rotatable screw passing through the traveling nut and fixed within the vat in central relation to the cage, for the purposes-described, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a tanning-vat and a vertically-movable cage therein, of a nonrotatable spindle fixed within the vat and passing thro ugh the cage, a rotary checkingnut connectedwith the cage and iitted to said spindle, an overhead driving-shaft, a sheave mounted on the shaft to be driven thereby, a sheave-block connected detachably to said cage, and a continuous hoisting-cable fastened at one end to a fixed support, extending through the sheave-block and attached at its other end to the sheave, whereby the cage may be freed from the hoisting-cable and allowed to descend slowly by the rotation of the check-nut on the screw-spindle within the vat, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a tanning-vat, and a vertically-movable cable therein, of a nonrotatable single screw-spindle iiXed within the vat and passing centrally through said cage, a rotatable check-nut journaled in the cage and engaging withthe screw-spindle to impart a slow, continuous traveling movement to the cage, an overhead driving-shaft, a

IOO

IIO

sheave mounted loosely on said shaft, a clutch my own l have hereto affixed my signature in for making the sheave fast to or loose on the the presence of two Witnesses. shaft, and a hoisting-cable connected with the cage and having its ends fastened to the sheave 5 and to a xed support, respectively, substan- Witnesses:

tially as described. J oHN MCCARTHY, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as E. F. RAYMOND.

JOSEPH H. BURNS. 

